Round Wind vs Seat Wind: Don't Mix Them Up
Sep 23, 2026 · 4 min read
Riichi Mahjong has two different Wind concepts that are easy to mix up: the round wind and the seat wind. Both can count as yakuhai, but they're determined in different ways.
Round Wind
This applies to ALL players at once, and changes every full go-around of the dealer position. During the East Round, East is the round wind for everyone. Once the East Round finishes, play can continue into the South Round, and South becomes the new round wind.
Seat Wind
This differs for EACH player, based on their seating position relative to the current dealer -- the dealer is always East, then going clockwise: South, West, North. This rotates every time the dealer changes.
If your Wind triplet happens to match both the round wind AND your seat wind at once (this situation is called Double East/Double Wind), it counts as 2 han instead of 1 -- one reason the dealer seat during the East Round is so favorable.
Learn more about yakuhai in detail.
Read About Yakuhai →